Introduction
I was introduced to the world of Science Fiction through a
novel by the name of I, Robot. Starting that
day I became an avid fan of Isaac Asimov and to this day all his novels hold a strange kind of intrigue and hold on me. Isaac Asimov is the only author in the history of
Sci-fi to have won the Hugo of the Hugo award which he won for his Foundation
Series. Apart from his Foundations Series, the Robots series and Empire series are also hugely popular. One amazing fact is that Asimov through the years has managed to connect each of his
book in a time spanning eons of time. Caves of Steel is a novel in the Robots series, under the sub category of Elijah Bailey.
Back Drop of the Novel This novel is set in a futuristic time period, when the Robots have been developed to the level where they can look and feel like humans. Their positronic brains now are infitely complex, though they are still governed by the three laws of Robotics:
1) A Robot cannot by action of inaction allow a human to get harmed.
2) A Robot must obey a human's commands as long as law #1 is not violated.
3) A Robot must protect itself as long as the above two laws are not violated.
With the development of Robots, colonisation of the various worlds also started, leading to many hitherto unoccupied worlds being inhabited with people. This lead to the breakup of civilization into two - the
Earth men - people who stayed in earth and despised Robots
for taking away their jobs, the Spacers - people who colonised other worlds and depended on Robots for everything.
These two civilizations hated each other, so much so that they did not see eye to eye.
The Plot Elijah Bailey is a highly talented police detective in New York city. One day the commisioner summons him for a high profile assignment - Investigation of a murder of Spacer. Most of the evidence points that an Earth man is behind it.
Just when Elijah is about to begin his assignment, he has a nasty surprise in store. A partner, R Daneel Olivaw joins him and he is a Robot. The trouble is like all other Earth men Elijah hates Robots.
Elijah has to overcome this antipathy to Robots to find the murderer. Join Elijah Bailey and Daneel Olivaw in chasing the murderer in a futuristic Earth.
Salient Features 1) The pace of the novel is excellent.
2) The plot and finale of the novel are excellent. You just can't keep this book down without finishing it.
3) Community feelings of both Earth men and Spacers potrayed brilliantly.
4) Internal conflicts within Elijah Bailey regarding his feelings for Spacers potrayed beautifully.
5) The best part, the story is not too long nor too short, the perfect size.
Summary The question is are you an Asimov fan? If the answer is yes, you will love this book. If the answer is no, Read this book and you would become one.
A high five rating for this book.